Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
the pilot's improper positioning of the fuel selector to the 'OFF' position, which resulted in fuel starvation and loss of engine power during takeoff. Factors relating to the accident were: down-sloping terrain (airstrip) and trees that were encountered during the aborted takeoff.
Aircraft Information
Analysis
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On June 7, 1997, approximately 1000 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-18-135, N27296, registered to and being flown by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged during an aborted takeoff at the Mile Hi airstrip, Big Creek, Idaho. The pilot and passenger were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was personal, was to have been operated under 14CFR91, and had departed McCall, Idaho, earlier in the morning with intermediate stops at various remote mountain airstrips.
The pilot reported that immediately before taking off from the Mile Hi airstrip, he "turned the fuel selector a full 180 degrees" intending to take off on the fullest fuel tank, but that it "should have been only 90 degrees." During the takeoff roll on the 18 degree down-sloped, grass strip, the engine lost power. The pilot reported that he was just lifting off at the time of the power loss and immediately re-landed the aircraft. He was unable to stop the aircraft on the remaining runway and subsequently collided head-on with a tree passing the down-slope end of the runway boundary. The fuel selector was documented in the "OFF" position at the accident site (refer to photograph 1).
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# SEA97LA132